The 'Swagger Jagger' hitmaker insists she was just making a "little joke" when she accused the 'Parachute' singer - who was her mentor on the 2010 series of 'The X Factor' - of miming and relying on computer auto-tuning to perfect her vocals and says she didn't mean to offend the star.

Speaking on TV show 'Daybreak', she said: "Basically, I said something on radio that I shouldn't have said and it wasn't intended to sound as bad as it did.

"All I was saying was that I would love to perform with her live and then I made a little joke.

"I want to say sorry to her if she found that offensive. At the end of the day, she was the person who got me where I am today. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I was.

"I'm in the public eye now so word vomit isn't good."

Cher's apology comes after Cheryl slammed her on twitter over her original remarks.

Cheryl tweeted: "Be careful who you kick on your way up... They kick you twice as hard on your way back down. "Unappreciation is ugly."

The 18-year-old singer had taken a swipe at her former mentor when asked if she would consider performing live with her.

She replied: "Maybe, if she'd sing live with me."

And when questioned if the prospect of singing live could be a difficult one for the 'Promise This' singer, Cher replied: "Well it is nowadays, when you haven't got the nifty little button to press!"

But when asked if she was talking about autotune she laughed and sarcastically replied: "What, oh no? Never, never ever!"